Improper urban planning blamed for pollution in our cities

As one of the worlds fastest urbanizing countries, Bangladeshs challenge is to develop its cities sustainably. Most of Bangladeshs cities have developed without proper planning, often resulting in environmental degradation and various impacts on peoples health. Urban planners and policy-makers need to consider various environmental impacts when planning and implementing urbanization strategies. Studies show that the two biggest challenges facing cities worldwide are air pollution (CO2) and urban heat (GHG). Short-lived climatological pollutants (SCPs) like ozone or black carbon tend to trap heat, resulting in higher temperatures. In addition to air quality, urban microclimate is also affected by other urban features like urban morphology and urban green cover.

As cities continue to grow and develop, so does the degradation of nature. Governments around the world are beginning to invest in ecosystem-based approaches to development. This is why nature-based solutions for urban planning are gaining traction among policy makers and practitioners. Nature-based solutions are straightforward approaches that work with nature as an integrated part of nature to solve social problems, promote human wellbeing and biodiversity at local level. These solutions include protecting, restoring or managing natural or semi-natural ecosystems, sustainable management of water systems and exploited land, and integrating nature into our cities. According to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNEP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), nature-based solutions are more cost-efficient and faster to reduce emissions by halting the loss or degradation of natural ecosystems.


The urban forest is one of the most important components of the urban ecosystem, providing many services and environmental benefits to the urban environment. These environmental benefits can include saving energy, reducing the thermal impact of cities, improving air and water quality, sequestering carbon and preserving biodiversity. The urban forest also offers a number of social and economic benefits, such as reducing psychological stress, accelerating recovery from illness, lowering healthcare costs, improving the quality of the microclimate and increasing property values.

In rapidly urbanizing countries such as Bangladesh, insufficient financial resources and space constraints have been identified as the most important factors hindering the implementation of NbS. Rapid development projects put enormous pressure on cities in terms of space availability and weaken the green spaces of urban areas.

 Internationally comparable data on NbS funding is not available for countries such as Bangladesh. As NbS strategies are highly dependent on local knowledge as well as socio-political conditions, there is a need for adaptive management based on local knowledge and culture. This limits policymakers and funders from investing in this approach, as they are unsure of its success and scalability.

NbS has great potential to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and air pollution. However, implementation of these strategies requires proper planning to maximize the potential of NbS for the combined reduction of urban heat and air pollution. NbS must be adapted to local conditions to be successful and effective. Greening strategies have recently been increasingly promoted through various air pollution and climate change plans and programs. From the point of view of sustainable and inclusive growth of cities, equal opportunities for green areas must be ensured. For example, socially disadvantaged groups are more vulnerable to the negative effects of air pollution and urban heat and are likely to live in less green neighborhoods. Therefore, NbS must be integrated into the urban planning agenda, providing a systematic approach involving all relevant stakeholders, especially citizens.

National policies, plans and goals of NbS are based on expert analyzes and practical fieldwork. Despite its many advantages, there are still debates about the effectiveness of NbS, especially its standards and safeguards to prevent potential harm to people and the environment. In certain cases, NbS can cause adverse effects on the environment and people, for example the restoration of a single-species forest can destroy biodiversity and the implementation of restoration measures in original areas without local consent, warned e.g. environment, development and local community organizations. To optimize natures contribution, we must use systematic and sustainable nature-based approaches to ensure positive environmental impact, boost long-term stakeholder engagement and meet global commitments now and in the future.

The writer is a  Researcher,  Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)